Dear High Tech,

You couldn’t be more right that technology is changing the way we interact with our customers. Several new devices and tech-enabled experiences aim to improve patients’ understanding of their conditions or medications and enhance physicians’ empathy with patients whose symptoms are often difficult to adequately describe. These technologies seek to change the way our clients perceive their reality, whether that involves entering a virtual world or augmenting the existing one…

 

Virtual Reality (VR)

VR is the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment; it can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a head mounted display with a screen inside.

All reality-altering technology changes the way we perceive the world in some way, but virtual reality (VR) completely alters the visual environment around us. How we interact with this virtual environment, however, depends heavily on the platform in use.¹

 

• Some VR headsets were designed to be used while the user stays seated and moves him- or herself through virtual space with a handheld controller. The screen is attached to the user’s face (by way of a headset) and covers a much larger portion of the field of vision, immersing the user in the virtual, 360-degree world¹

 

• Other VR headsets, such as the Oculus Rift, require both a computer (which the headset is cabled into) and separate controller to function. Essentially, it exists as an immersive screen you wear on your head to surround yourself with a virtual world¹

 

• On the lower end, other companies offer similar experiences like Google Cardboard—just at a lower overall quality (and price point). One advantage of these devices is that they aren’t cabled to a computer. Instead, they are powered by a smartphone for a quick-and-easy VR experience¹

 

The easiest way to think of VR is this: it’s a completely separate and artificial world designed to change your reality and immerse you in it. Nothing is real, and everything is virtual. To put it simply: VR replaces reality.

 

AR: Augmented Reality

AR is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view; not a virtual environment, but rather computer-generated imagery on top of the user’s real view/environment.

 

Augmented reality (AR) takes your existing reality and changes aspects of it through the lens of a smartphone or iPad device, a set of glasses, or even a headset. With augmented reality you’ll always see what’s right in front of you, but with an added virtual layer on top of it:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxm_Ka0j99M

 

• AR can take a lot of different forms, but its most common use is pretty straightforward: the screen of our smartphones. You’ll find AR in all sorts of different smartphone apps. Quest Visual’s Word Lens finds text through your smartphone’s camera and translates it into a language of your choosing¹

 

• Google Glass was one of the first devices to take AR beyond the smartphone, but it became the source of controversy due to privacy concerns, chunky hardware, a high price tag, and a less-than-compelling feature set¹

 

• While apps like Glass may not have been a resounding success, other companies seek to breathe new life into the AR headset market and popularize this more passive method of interaction¹

 

Think of augmented reality as a layer on top of your existing reality, not mixed into it. Basically, AR enhances reality. This kind of AR visualization can’t be interacted with as part of the larger environment, but only through your phone’s or iPad’s screen. You, however, control the content and marketing message.

 

We have enjoyed learning about these and other new technologies at Xavier Creative House – especially how to use them to market pharmaceutical businesses and their products or services to customers. In addition, it’s enabled us to add meaningful technologies to our service offerings.

 

At Xavier, we’d love to discuss our capabilities and your business needs at a quick meeting or a more official presentation. Give us a shout via email, social media, or our website, and let us show you what we can do!

 

Reference: 1. https://next.reality.news/news/whats-difference-between-ar-vr-and-mr-0171163/. Accessed July 5, 2018.